Computing systems may include network devices that add to the functionality of the computing system. In many cases, network devices are connected to the computing system using an interconnect. The interconnect may implement a standard bus protocol, such as any of the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) family of bus protocols. It is common for the network device to be in the form of a network interface card (NIC) that is interconnected with the host processor by way of an interconnect. A host processor may send packets to the NIC for transmission onto a network. The host processor may receive packets from the NIC that have been received from the network.
In some environments, a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) are running on the host processor. Each VM may have a need to send and receive network packets. Sending and receiving network packets causes traffic on the interconnect between the network NIC and the host processor.